The present invention relates to implantable electronic and electrochemical medical devices and systems, and more particularly to a miniature implantable connector used with such devices and systems. Such connector is reliable, easy to manufacture, and provides multi-contact connections for use with limited-sized implantable stimulators, sensors, and the like.
Implantable electronic medical devices and systems have been in use for at least the past 20 years or more. One of the earliest implantable medical devices to be implanted in a patient was the cardiac pacemaker. Other implantable electronic devices have included neurostimulators, i.e., electrical stimulators designed to stimulate nerves or other tissue, sensors for sensing various physiological parameters or physical status of a patient, and other therapeutic-delivery devices, e.g., pumps for delivering controlled amounts of medication. In more recent years, the tiny implantable cochlear stimulator has been developed to allow patients who are profoundly deaf the ability to experience the sensation of hearing. Under development are other tiny implantable sensors and neurostimulators that will allow a patient who is a recipient of such sensors or stimulators the ability to walk, or to see, or to experience the use of other lost or impaired body functions.
Many of the implantable medical devices and systems described above require that at least one electrical lead be connected thereto in order for the device or system to perform its intended function. Such lead may terminate, e.g., in one or more electrodes designed to be in contact with body tissue. The cochlear stimulator, for example, has an electrode array adapted for insertion into the cochlea of the patient. Such electrode array typically employs a multiplicity of electrode contacts, e.g., 16-32 electrode contacts, each of which must be individually electrically connected to the electronic stimulation circuitry housed within an implantable housing. Other implantable electronic medical devices must be connected to a power source, or another sensor or other device, which requires an electrical lead, typically with at least two electrical conductors therein, for making the needed electrical connection between the devices or components of the system.
As the electronic medical devices and systems implanted in patients have become smaller and smaller, there has arisen a critical need for a reliable, easy-to-manufacture connector that allows a multi-conductor electrical lead to be detachably and reliably connected to the electronic circuitry hermetically sealed within a limited-sized implantable housing.